For of Him, and through Him, and to Him

are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36

Why do you do it?

Why do you bother to seek God? Why do you even go against your natural bodily and physical senses and talk to a Person you cannot see? And deny your body and mind many of it’s demands on you, for this invisible Person? Why? Why do you read the Bible? Why do you pray for others? Why should you care?

UR and The Shack

My comment to Wayne Jacobsen:

Hi Wayne, I think there are some loose-ends in your defense of THE SHACK. Your position regarding the author, William Young : he believes in UR, and you say that you don’t. By collaboratiing with someone who believes in UR it sends a message that you think it’s a light matter; a take-it-or-leave-it matter.

Note, i’m not talking about guilt by association. I’m asking whether you take the doctrine of UR lightly.

The “god of UR” is not the God of the Bible.

http://lifestream.org/blog/2008/03/04/is-the-shack-heresy/comment-page-4/#comment-33271

Come to me

all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

If any OTHER man ever made such a promise it would be laughable. If any of the great men of history, or of the present, called, Come to me and I will give you rest, he would not be believable, he would be absurd. You would say he is mad.

But Jesus IS believable. His astounding claim is not absurd bcos of who He is. When He calls weary sinners to Himself it is a believable call. The human heart knows that only Jesus can promise such a thing, and only He can give eternal life.

He calls us to come to Him and learn what He is like, and in becoming like Him we find rest for our souls. Unless our coming to Him results in us becoming meek and lowly like Him, then His rest evades us. He was speaking to folk who were burdened and weary from religion and sin.

It is a stupendous fact that God manifest in the flesh was, and is, a lowly Man. God can become lowly, but arrogant little people like us find it so hard, eh.

Lowly partly means that you’re low enough to go beneath the radar of this world and beneath the field of attraction of this world. You’re just not “up there” where worldly people are, or aspire to be.

The accountability of love

is very different to the accountability of law.

Someone wrote: No servant should judge what another servant should be doing.

Is this true?

Who are you that judge another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4

If we take in the context of this text, and read the whole chapter, we see that the type of judging referred to here is the type that DESPISES a brother bcos of the type of food he eats.

It surely does not mean that brother cannot admonish brother.

Also, the accountability (to one another) of love is very different to the accountability of law. When the brethren really love each other, then they are extremely sensitive to any sin that could come in and break that close fellowship. Not sensitive as in touchy. Sensitive to pray and if necessary discuss the matter in order to restore fellowship. They are also sensitive, in love, to whether the brethren are going the right way or not : meaning, they bear each others burdens.

The accountability of law is more like a spiritual police man, or spiritual inspector. It is accountability apart from love; apart from close fellowship in Jesus. It is a work of the flesh, and not a bearing of one another’s burdens, which is a work of the Spirit.

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now has God set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased him. And if they were all one member, where would be the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of you: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our less respectable parts have greater respect. For our more respectable parts have no need: but God has arranged the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 1 Corinthians 12:14-27

God’s testimony of one man

And the LORD said unto satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil? Job 1:8

What an amazing testimony for God to give concerning a man.

The sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD

Job 1:6

I love that. That’s a good thing to do, to come and present ourselves before the LORD, daily. To spend much time before the Throne of God, every day.

One thing i will desire of the LORD

is that Jesus be revealed to those i speak to.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing

nor the ear filled with hearing. Ecclesiastes 1:8b

Our Creator made us this way so that we would realize we were made for Him, and not for the things He has made.

I know that, whatsoever God does, it shall be forever

nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God does it, that men should fear before him. Ecclesiastes 3:14

Rabbi, you are the Son of God

you are the King of Israel. John 1:49b

And John bore record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bore record that this is the Son of God. John 1:32-34

Good and faithful servant

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord. Matthew 25:23

It is our business to be faithful over the few things He has given us to be faithful with. No matter how badly the world falls apart in the last days, and no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we are still to be His good and faithful servants.

As we recount Jesus faithfulness to us over the years, we should be all the more resolved to continue to be faithful to Him.

Father, have mercy

on the people suffering in the floods in Australia, Sri Lanka, Brazil and the Philipines. In your wrath, also may your mercy extend to as many as you will, in Jesus name. We thank you for the abundant mercy you have poured out on us in Jesus your Son.

He has filled our hearts with the love of God

And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. Romans 5:5

The love of God in our hearts comes FROM the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus!

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world

I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:15-19

His truth sanctifies. This means that unsanctification is a matter of believing untruth, and sanctification is a matter of believing the truth, and therefore sanctification happens when we believe the truth of His word, as He brings His word to us.

Even as Jesus is not of this world, so are we not of this world. This truth sanctifies us : separates and dedicates us to the Father : He does the sanctifying, not us (meaning, He is the Source of it, and we are merely cooperating with Him).

The Believer’s Mistake

by Watchman Nee

See comments:

The ‘messiah’ cometh

…Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God…

…Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deception of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie… 2 Thessalonians 2:4, 9-11

When the world feels it is finally ready for a messiah, a savior; God will stop restraining satan and allow the world to have the type of savior it wants.

True prophets prepare the way for the coming of the LORD Jesus.

False prophets prepare the way for the coming of the MOS.

Disastrous floods in Australia

Just an encouragment to pray for the folk there, and for many to come to Jesus and sincere repentance in their hour of crisis. And for Jesus’ people to be strong and very bold to preach the gospel.

Pressing in and possessing the land

Every place on which the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the western sea shall your territory be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he has said unto you. Deuteronomy 11:24-25

Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Joshua 1:2-7

Continued in comments:

Jesus’ friends

You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14

Doing WHATEVER He says to do. Heeding all His words, all His truth. Doing what Jesus says, not just mentally assenting to it.

I was thinking yesterday about a money preacher (something i saw on the net) how he prides himself in his obedience to the Word of God, but he ignores most of God’s words, and just clings to certain cherry-picked scriptures. When people do that, even the few scriptures they specialize in, they don’t understand. A partial obedience is disobedience, and leaves one still in the dark. Even what light they think they have is actually darkness.

We are Jesus friends if we do whatever He commands, not some of His commands. If a person is not a friend of Jesus then they have no light, but remain in the darkness.